Friday, April 10, 2009

Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye to Kya Hai...

I watched Gulaal at PVR Saket at an unbelievable price of Rs.50!! They have reduced their ticket prices drastically from Rs.150 to just Rs.50, but the sad part is there are no good movies to watch, so no use:(

Anyways I am digressing. Anurag Kashyap brings to us his next film Gulaal, which had been in the making for years. He is a treasure to Indian cinema and would go down in history as the man who has the guts to make path breaking cinema, and not compromising his ideas for big bucks. After a superbly crafted DevD, Gulaal is again an immensely watchable film. Anurag says it is his angriest film and his frustration can be clearly seen in the film.

To summarise the plot, the movie is about Dilip Kumar Singh, an aspiring lawyer, who comes to study in the University in Rajasthan, but by a turn of events gets sucked into the murky world of student unions and elections. He becomes a pawn in the hands of Duki Bana who wants to wage a war against the government of India to carve out a separate state of Rajputana for Rajputs. It is a tale of emotions- deceit, love, lust, abuse, greed, tragedy, betrayal, anger, frustration....

About the performances, Abhimanyu Singh as Ransa has a towering screen presence. Kay Kay Menon as Duki Bana is brilliant. Deepak Dobriyaal as Bhaati is excellent. Just watch his emotions. All other actors including Raj Singh Chaudhry, Ayesha Mohan, Mahie Gill, Jesse Randhawa deliver. One thing that is a characteristic feature of Anurag's films is the finer detailing of each and every character. In one particular scene, when Anuja comes to teach, the topic written on the board is Nihilism-the premise of the film. Or in another scene, the brilliant Mahie Gill who looks like Tabu, the songs played by her are Ruk Ruk Ruk and PaaniPaani Re- both Tabu's songs. It is these details that make a film stand out.

There are so many terrific scenes that I was planning to write them down in the hall, lest I miss out. From next time, I am going to get a DVD, pause every such scene and write about that scene. Piyush Mishra as Prithvi Bana, who also wrote the lyrics of the film has the best scenes and the best lines. His dialogues and satirical lyrics are too blunt and a slap on the hypocrisy of our lives.

The character of Ardhnarishwara and the Bansurivala have a significance though I am still comprehending that. Tell me if you know:) This is the beauty of his films that it makes you think. The film gives so many messages like in one scene, Dilip asks Anuja "Kya main darpokhun?". She replies "Darpok hona buri baat nahi hai". The mere acceptance of this requires great courage. In another scene, Dilip on listening to Kiran tries to change himself and wears contact lenses but on being betrayed, he wants to be his own self again, so wears his spectacles again. The only problem I had with the film was that it was a bit predictable. The Departed type ending you already know, again signifying that only bastards survive as the rat survived in The Departed. Also, I would have liked to see more of the roles of Jesse Randhawa and Mahie Gill (have become a fan!!), they were shown much.

This film is Anurag's tribute to Sahir Ludhianvi and he says he wrote this film while listening to Pyaasa's Yeh Duniya Mil Bhi jaye to kya hai. Anupama Chopra says that you cannot define his films in one word and that is a huge compliment. It is a contemporary film and is more relevant today in the context of what Raj Thackeray is doing in Maharashtra. Watch this compelling film and do ponder over its lyrics....